Sonrise program? Or autism research center of america?
I just received a dvd from them (a documentary) called "I want my little boy back" very informative! After the intensive program, this little boy was transformed... I was completely amazed.
I would suggest reading the books "Sonrise" and "Sonrise~The miracles continues"...very positive reads but some people felt the program to be controversal...it seemed to work with the son of the founder of the program but I believe some parents were made to feel they were not accepting enough of their child's autism and that is why their child didnt recover...I wouldnt do the programs personally but just took some of the tools in the books to try on Sarah when she was little..we did VB/ABA which is the only one scientifically researched to work on children with autism but we also did programs from RDI and floortime.. I think alot of therapy that really works has more to do with finding out what your child likes and using that with rewards to teach other skills and just finding reinforcers and common sense in their face and making yourself as rewarding to them as possible..which all therapies out their do this..the beauty of ABA is that they have to track every skill and dont move on till your child has totally mastered a skill and revisit the mastered list often so they dont lose the skills. They may be more folks on board that know more about sonrise...I loved the books:)Son Rise was actually my first peek at autism -- when I was in high school, Raun Kaufman's story was made into a made-for-tv movie. Ultimately, Raun went from flapping and watching spinning plates to graduating from college and running their autism business. His father, Barry, has written a number of books, including "Happiness is a Choice" and if I recall correctly they also adopted some special needs kids.
I respect them, their philosophy and their techniques, but to follow the program full-out is both expensive and time-consuming, so it's not for everybody.
I have loved everything I've read about the sonrise program because it was so positive. I would love to be able to go there and learn myself instead of having someone from there come to me. The options institute seems to have alot of self help workshops. I need to read positive things and continue to have hope! But I don't know enough about it or anyone who has actually taken there child there, etc. to say anything more.
There have been many threads on the son-rise program before. Please, try a search to find the threads as there are several.
Here is a good one:
http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2123& ; ; ; ;KW=son%2Drise
I had an interesting couple of experiences with them. I have listened to many lectures from them and I know the history.
I will also note here that every time we have a conversation about this organization someone named Aaron shows up...and it isn't always the same Aaron. Last time it was someone with a different name. It has been an interesting foray into their philosphy every time and has been, at times, contentious...which I will not allow again and will lock the thread if it becomes a sales pitch again as well.
If you really are interested after reading the thread I provided and others that will come up on a search I suggest that you visit the son-rise forums (as they have their own).
http://www.autismtreatmentcenter.org/cgi-local/ikonboard/iko nboard.cgi
Best of luck to you in your search and tell us if you find anything new!
http://autismtreatmentcenter.org/cgi-local/ikonboard/topic.c gi?forum=39&topic=619
that is the link for the son rise programme support group
IT is an interesting program reminds me a lot of Floortime and RDI.